Kopatsoki: painted wooden headdress Kopatsoki: a Hopi Butterfly Dance headdress from the Paths of Life exhibition
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The Butterfly Dance takes place in August and early September. The main participants are Hopi youth and young adults who are accompanied by a chorus of singers comprised of dads, uncles, brothers and in-laws of the dance participants. It is a beautiful dance and one full of color, splendor, meaningful song lyrics and contentment. Up to a hundred or more pairs (girl, boy) of dancers fill the village plaza.
Maidens wear an elaborately painted headdress made for them by their dance partners. This headdress or "kopatsoki" as it is called in Hopi becomes a keepsake for the Hopi maiden once the dance has concluded. Their black mantas are adorned with turquoise beads and pins and hand woven sashes.
Hopi/Tewa Senom Dance Group The Hopi/Tewa Senom Dance Group performing the Butterfly Dance at the ASM 2001 Summer Solstice Celebration. Photo by Geoffrey Ashley.
The boys wear loosely fitting velvet shirts that flow in the summer breeze and handsome kilts that are embroidered with cloud and rain symbols. Like most Hopi ceremonies, the Butterfly Dance is a petition for rain, good health and long life for all living things. The dance also recognizes the butterfly for its beauty and its contribution in pollinating plant life.
Hopi Summer Traditions
ReplyDeleteThe Hopi Butterfly Dance
Kopatsoki: painted wooden headdress
Kopatsoki: a Hopi Butterfly Dance headdress from the Paths of Life exhibition
View details
The Butterfly Dance takes place in August and early September. The main participants are Hopi youth and young adults who are accompanied by a chorus of singers comprised of dads, uncles, brothers and in-laws of the dance participants. It is a beautiful dance and one full of color, splendor, meaningful song lyrics and contentment. Up to a hundred or more pairs (girl, boy) of dancers fill the village plaza.
Maidens wear an elaborately painted headdress made for them by their dance partners. This headdress or "kopatsoki" as it is called in Hopi becomes a keepsake for the Hopi maiden once the dance has concluded. Their black mantas are adorned with turquoise beads and pins and hand woven sashes.
Hopi/Tewa Senom Dance Group
The Hopi/Tewa Senom Dance Group performing the Butterfly Dance at the ASM 2001 Summer Solstice Celebration. Photo by Geoffrey Ashley.
The boys wear loosely fitting velvet shirts that flow in the summer breeze and handsome kilts that are embroidered with cloud and rain symbols. Like most Hopi ceremonies, the Butterfly Dance is a petition for rain, good health and long life for all living things. The dance also recognizes the butterfly for its beauty and its contribution in pollinating plant life.